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Hephaestus
---- ---- |roman = Vulcan |next = Hera |link1 = Theoi.com |link2 = New World Encyclopedia |link3 = Encyclopedia Mythica |link4 = Encyclopedia Britannica |link5 = Wikipedia }} In Greek mythology, Hephaestus (alternatively spelt Hephaistos, Hephæstos, Hephaestos, Hephestos , Hephæstus, Hephaistus or Hephestus) was one of the Twelve Olympians and the deity of metalworking, metallurgy, smithing, sculpture, masonry, fire and volcanoes. He served as the blacksmith of the gods and as such, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus. He was thus regarded as the patron god of artisans, blacksmiths and sculptors. He was also identified with the Roman Vulcan or Vulcanus and the Egyptian Ptah. According to Homeric traditions, he was the son of Zeus and Hera, but later traditions state that he had no father, and that Hera gave birth to him independent of Zeus, as she was jealous of Zeus having given birth to Athena independent of her. This, however, is opposed to the common story, that Hephaestus split the head of Zeus, and thus assisted him in giving birth to Athena, for Hephaestus is there represented as older than Athena. A further development of the later tradition is, that Hephaestus sprang from the thigh of Hera, and, being for a long time kept in ignorance of his parentage, he at length had recourse to a stratagem, for the purpose of finding it out. He constructed a chair, to which those who sat upon it were fastened, and having thus entrapped Hera, he refused allowing her to rise until she had told him who his parents were. Hephaestus was extensively worshipped in the major industrial centers of Greece, particularly Athens. His cult center was Lemnos, where his holiest shrine was located. His symbols were a smith's hammer, anvil, and a pair of tongs. His sacred animal was the ass, and his sacred bird was the crane (geranos). Name Etymology The Dorian and Aeolian form of the name is (H)aphaestus. Burkert (1985:414, n.1) suggests that the name a-pa-i-ti-jo, appearing in early Linear B form of writing and found in Knossos, can be read as Hephaestios. Kakrides (1986:192) is certain that behind the Greek god Hephaestus is hidden a pre-Hellenic god of the island of Lemnos or, more generally, of the N.W. Asia Minor. The latter scholar also believes that the name Hephaestus cannot be given a Greek etymology. In Homer and in only one instance (Iliad 2.426) the name Hephaestus stands for fire itself. Ephithets Cult Hephaestus is somewhat notable among the Greek gods for his definitively non-Hellenic origins, as his association with the indigenous fire cults of Lemnos is well attested by both mythic accounts and archaeological records. Farnell Vol. 5, 375 Powell, 185-186 Despite this extra-Hellenic provenance, worship of the blacksmith god came to be incorporated into various aspects of the classical Greek religion (albeit to a lesser extent than many). In Attica, Hephaestus and Athena Ergane (Athena as patroness of craftsmen and artisans), were honored at a festival called Chalceia on the 30th day of Pyanepsion. The god was also venerated on his own during the Hephaisteia, an annual festival. Parke, 171-172. Athens also boasted a well-appointed temple honoring the deity: Finally, a compelling case has been made that the lampadephoria, a ceremony of lamp lighting and torch running that was featured in numerous socio-religious festivals, emerged from (or was related to) the veneration of Hephaestus.Farnell Vol. 5, 378-380 Outside Attica, Hephaestus was somehow connected with the archaic, pre-Hellenic Phrygian and Thracian mystery cult of the Kabeiroi, who were also called the Hephaistoi "(the Hephaestus-men)," in Lemnos. The adherents of this mystery religion claimed that their founders had been children of the blacksmith god. Hephaestus in myth In the Saga of the Gods The Birth of Hephaestus Of all the second generation Olympians (Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Athena, Dionysus, Hephaestus, and Hermes), only two, Ares and Hephaestus, are children of Hera. Further, while Ares was indubitably the child of the divine ruling couple, the mythical sources that describe the origins of the smith-god are somewhat more conflicting. In some legends, it seems that, like his brother, Hephaestus was the son of Hera and Zeus.More interesting, however, are the accounts that describe Hephaestus as the product of asexual reproduction on the part of his mother—specifically, that Hera became jealous when Zeus produced Athena without her help and spitefully decided to make herself pregnant by force of will. These incompatible accounts lead to a second inconsistency, this time with respect to the smith god's physical appearance. In all cases, Hephaestus is described as malformed, crippled, or lame (or some combination of the three traits). When the misfortunate god is depicted as the son of Hera alone, he is understood as having been born with these various aesthetic and functional imperfections. Hurwit notes the innately patriarchal assumption in this tale, in "the fact that Zeus gave birth to a perfect daughter, while Hera, by herself, could only engender the crippled Hephaestus, which again argues for the superior role of the male". Appalled at the sight of her grotesque offspring, Hera promptly hurled Hephaestus off Mount Olympus. Hephaestus fell down for a day and a night, finally reaching the cool blue sea, where he was brought up by the nymph Thetis as her own child. Conversely, when the divine blacksmith was seen as the son of Hera and Zeus, he was born in full health. However, after angering Zeus (by saving Hera from a painful physical punishment inflicted by the High God), he was unceremoniously flung from the Heavens. In this version, the god's lameness is explained by the violence of his abrupt landing on the rocky shores of Lemnos. Thus, the discrepancies between these two related episodes are reconciled in their shared explanation of the god's crippled limbs. The Childhood of Hephaestus Hephaestus had a happy childhood with dolphins as his playmates and pearls as his toys. Late in his childhood, he found the remains of a fisherman's fire on the beach and became fascinated with an unextinguished coal, still red-hot and glowing. Hephaestus carefully shut this precious coal in a clamshell and took it back to his underwater grotto and made a fire with it. On the first day after, Hephaestus stared at this fire for hours on end. On the second day, he discovered that when he made the fire hotter with bellows, certain stones sweated iron, silver or gold. On the third day he beat the cooled metal into shapes: bracelets, chains, swords and shields. Hephaestus made pearl-handled knives and spoons for his foster mother, he made a silver chariot for himself, and bridles so that seahorses could transport him quickly. He even made slave-girls of gold to wait on him and do his bidding. The Return to Olympus One day, Thetis left her underwater grotto to attend a dinner party on Mount Olympus wearing a beautiful necklace of silver and sapphires, which Hephaestus had made for her. Hera admired the necklace and asked her where she could get one. Thetis became flustered causing Hera to become suspicious and, at last, the queen god discovered the truth: the baby she had once rejected had grown into a talented blacksmith. Hera was furious and demanded Hephaestus return home, a demand that he refused. However he did send Hera a beautifully constructed chair made of silver and gold, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Hera was delighted with this gift but, as soon as she sat in it her weight triggered hidden springs and metal bands sprung forth to hold her fast. The more she shrieked and struggled the more firmly the mechanical throne gripped her; the chair was a cleverly designed trap. For three days Hera sat fuming, still trapped in Hephaestus's chair, she could not sleep, she could not stretch, she could not eat. Zeus pleaded with Hephaestus to dislodge Hera, but he steadfastly refused. Agitated, Zeus sent Dionysus to fetch Hephaestus to free Hera, which was achieved after getting him intoxicated with drink and carrying him back on a mule/ass. Even in his intoxication, Hephaestus refused to release Hera from the trap. Zeus resorted to bribes: Hephaestus was offered the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, as a wife. Agreeing, Hephaestus set Hera free. References